www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Question regarding receiving communion/blood of Christ

I believe this is what I saw - several weeks ago (RC rite) I attended Mass and of course there were 8 lay ministers ready to distribute the Eucharist and the chalice. As the priest did the administering of the Eucharist to the 8 - 1 person shook her head no and the priest continued on to the rest. He then turned around and brought the chalice to each and this she accepted. I think my jaw dropped and I stared. I didn't understand. If she felt she couldn't receive the Eucharist how could she partake of the chalice. Am I missing something is this acceptable??? And if she wasn't receiving the EUcharist because she was in sin - how could she accept the chalice? Regardless of the actual happenings is the above scenario acceptable. Regarding receiving under 1 form and not the other. Hope I've explained my self. This board is daunting and sometimes very intimidating with all the knowledge that abounds here.

Hi Sue!

There are lots of possible answers here, but you would need to ask the individual.

I can think of one innocent explanation. I can see an Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister receiving the Body of Christ at one Mass but not the Blood, and then serving at later Mass thinking that because he had received the Body of Christ earlier that day that now he can only receive the Blood of Christ. Such would not be good theology but many EEMs are not theologians.

I would not worry about this. I'm sure the explanation is innocent.

One should usually receive under both forms but in the Roman Rite it is not wrong to receive under one or the other. For many years the Blood of Christ was not offered and people only partook of the Body of Christ. The situation you described is the reverse. Again, unusual but not against the Faith.

John

That person might have a problem with wheat gluten...so they only partake of the Precious Blood...

Sue,

I must confess I never heard of such a thing, either. It's very strange that someone would be distributing Holy Communion and not receiving it first, but it's even stranger that someone would receive from the chalice only.

Come to think of it, there was a thread on this forum a while back telling of someone who could not tolerate wheat gluten even in minute amounts, and it's possible that this is the case here. However, in such a case it seems reasonable that the person would decline to serve as a Eucharistic Minister.

Ignorance is a possibility, too--the person in question may have had a reason that had absolutely nothing to do with being in sin.


Peace,
Deacon Richard

I'm with Jakub on this

During the Fraction by the Celebrant a small particle of the Body of Christ is put in the Chalice used by the Priest , but if there are several Chalices, to be used for Administration of the Most Precious Blood , it is my understanding that these Chalices do not contain any Particle of the Body of Christ , so Communion can be given from these Chalices to anyone who does have a problem with wheat gluten.

I do know ,however , that many people with Gluten sensitivities , believe that the Body of Christ will not harm them and will be willing to Receive from the same Chalice as everyone else.

SUE:

Christ is in our midst!! He is and always will be!!

It would seem that this minister should have alerted the priest in advance about this intention of hers in receiving the Body and Blood of Christ.

That said, I had that same thing happen to me once and the woman quietly explained that she could not tolerate even the smallest amount of wheat gluten. After that, our pastor procured some non-gluten altar breads and she goes to his line for the special Host at communion time.

I agree it was a bit of a shock, but we need to pray for each other's infirmities.

BOB

BOB

Sorry - but I fear I have to correct you - it's possible to use very low gluten content hosts - but non gluten hosts are not permissible - there have been some misunderstandings about this in the past.

Sue the contents of the chalice is also the Eucharist.

OLS:

Christ is born!! Glorify Him!!

I stand corrected. They do have some small amount. Our pastor sent to a convent that has a formula they've developed that passes muster but has such a small amount of gluten in that people don't normally react to it. They are rather fragile, though, and are kept in the refrigerator. Here's a link to the sisters who make them:

www.benedictinesisters.org/bread/low_gluten.php [benedictinesisters.org] - 23k

BOB

Over the years, I have (fairly rarely) been called upon to give Holy Communion either to someone who is gluten-intolerant or someone who is alcohol-intolerant. In both cases, the Priest simply prepares a special "dose" to adminster to the Communicant with the Spoon as usual.

We would normally give an infant or a very young child a small amount of the Precious Blood only, so the Church knows such a practice.

Fr. Serge

I think the oddest point in the scenario that Sue explains is that the communicant was one of the Extraordinary Ministers (hope I styled that correctly, I can never remember). If so, I'd have expected that the celebrant would have been aware if this woman did not ordinarily partake of the Body. But, Sue's description suggests that was not the case - the priest approached, she declined. I suppose it could have been a visiting or new priest or she could have been new to the ranks of Extraordinary Ministers - unimportant, but it caught my eye.


Sue,

Never hesitate to post here, no matter how concerned you are that your question might seem silly or how sure you are that it has been asked previously or how convinced you are that someone will provide a reply that overwhelms your understanding. Much as it seems otherwise, every question hasn't been asked and there is a high likelihood that someone, other than yourself, has the same query and will benefit likewise from it being answered.

As to any concern that a reply will be pedantic or encyclopedic and leave you scratching your head, if it happens, just ask for further explanation. This site exists, in large measure, for its members to educate one another and to be educated by one another. An important part of that mission, which we all sometimes forget, is to assure that wharever information and knowledge we impart to one another is both accurate and understandable. Don't ever hesitate to point it out when we fail at that.

Many years,

Neil